About the Organization

The Village Project Inc. is a US based non-profit, non-governmental organization that designs curriculum, works with primary school aged children in after-school and summer camp programs and teaches teachers to work with students on projects that involve the participants in democratic self-government and in building communities.  Our work is inspired by the Village experiments of Cornelia Iselin 

Our Mission
The Village Project believes that in the modern world, all children need to learn how to build societies.  In traditional societies, community and the role of the individual within it are defined, but in a culture of constant change, both human and technological, these definitions no longer work.  In a world of change, children need to learn not any one answer but ways of finding new answers and redefining society.  Every child needs to learn how to create communities and how to find his or her place within it.  The Village Project aims to empower primary school children as individuals, to give them a better understanding of community, and to help them learn how to build a world they wish to live in. 

Our Activities
The Village Project Inc. programs for youth.  We use the Village curriculum both as an enrichment activity during the school day and as an educational after-school activity. From time to time we also sponsor and facilitate summer camps where the curriculum offers a chance for children and educators to experiment with biulding democratic communities.  Since we view this program as an on-going experiment that can take multiple forms we regularly undertake curriculum development projects to optimize the effectiveness of the program for specific settings.

The Village Project Inc. organizes seminars for teachers .  Over the course of our 4-8 day seminars a group of 12 to 16 teachers takes part in the building of a town in much the same way as students do.  The participants complete the workshop with the "lived experience" of the curriculum and fully prepared for the challenging but rewarding job of offering this experience to students in their schools.

 


For more information please contact 

Noah W. Sobe, President or Amy B. Shuffelton, Vice-President. 

The Village Project Inc. 
6541 N Greenview Ave. 
Chicago, IL  60626 
USA 

Telephone +1 773-262-4551 
Email informationvillageproject.org


Additional Information about the Vill age CurriculumVillage and Deliberative Democracy 
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Copyright © 1999-2014 The Village Project Inc.
Page Last Updated November 11, 2014